Remember Mira Sorvino's brief "It Girl" fame in the mid/late-90's? I can't remember the last big-screen movie I've seen her in.

A shame, as I had a big crush on her in the day, and she's still lovely even now.

^^ Ah! That's a big one that slipped my mine. Mira Sorvino. Man, I liked her. Still do.

Yeah that's a GREAT one. Paul and I have brought her up before -- especially since she won an Oscar and then that was pretty much it. On a side note I put her dad's hysterical crying when she accepted her award slightly above Chad Lowe's crying when then-wife Hilary Swank won her Oscar.

This is another case though of someone bailing out to have kids -- she's had three of them -- though I think her career started a downward slope long before then too. Once she started taking B-grade TV mini-series I think she decided it was time to have a family instead.

Can't blame her that's pretty classy to do in this day and age...

Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino has turned down a series of lucrative roles over the last few years - because she doesn't want her children to be raised by nannies.

The Mighty Aphrodite star has only made a handful of movies and TV appearances in recent years, preferring instead to spend time with her husband, Christopher Backus, and their three children.

And Sorvino admits she has missed out on some "intriguing" acting work to ensure she is at home while her kids grow up.

She tells Parade magazine, "I don't want to take time away from my kids. I used to work all year long and basically live in hotel rooms. Kudos to women who can pull that off, but I don't want my kids raised by nannies. I have the best children and husband. I'm really, really blessed.

"I've made many professional decisions where I've been offered pretty intriguing situations both financially and career-wise. But they just required being away from home and I couldn't be without my children.

"My mother was a stay-at-home mum. She was amazing, always there for us. Somewhere I guess there is a middle ground, but you see your kids suffer when you leave them with someone else."

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni2385897/

^^ Good for her.

I must say that's an awfully rare thing to see these days and especially out of a place like Hollywood. Quite impressive.

While it's admirable for a famous, well-respected actress to take time away from Hollywood to raise her children properly, I just miss seeing Sorvino's dazzling smile and killer curves in movies.

I would definitely add Kate Hudson to this group. She was wonderful in ALMOST FAMOUS, but since then...hoo-boy! She is the Cuba Gooding, Jr. of movie actresses, minus the Oscar, of course.

And as for Elisabeth Shue, not all her films were Bs and schlock-she did get an Oscar nomination for LEAVING LAS VEGAS, and she was great in that (naked, too ).

Jedbu wrote:I would definitely add Kate Hudson to this group. She was wonderful in ALMOST FAMOUS, but since then...hoo-boy! She is the Cuba Gooding, Jr. of movie actresses, minus the Oscar, of course.

While Hudson's filmography is fairly dreadful, she's been working steadilly for the last decade, and her movies usually turn a profit. Her career has far from "died" (as long as you're not speaking from a "quality" standpoint).

Jedbu wrote: And as for Elisabeth Shue, not all her films were Bs and schlock-she did get an Oscar nomination for LEAVING LAS VEGAS, and she was great in that (naked, too ).

I still say her sexiest movie scene required no nudity (still NSFW):

I saw Jennifer Jason Leigh in a small part in Greenberg this year. (Had to review the DVD, unfortunately) It looks like she's writing and producing with her husband Noah Baumbach these days. She's still a great actress, but she was always quite picky when it came to the movies she did.

Another one I haven't seen in much of anything in years is Phoebe Cates. Almost completely off the map.

I was just mentioning two actresses yesterday who have completely transformed since the early 80s (that CAN'T have been 30 years ago):

Beverly D'Angelo and Patti D'Arbanville. I've seen the former on Entourage, and the latter popped up on Sopranos Season 5, both looking quite different than they had in the past.

And I won't even get into Kathleen Turner...

To be fair as far as male actors go - I agree with the post about the billboards for The Expendables. Truly scary.

The Wrestler was a great example of this. I'd go from one moment of "Wow, Marisa Tomei is good in this" to one of "What the heck happened to Mickey Rourke?????"

And for the male actors, how about Val Kilmer, Michael Pare, Ken Wahl and Don Johnson?

^^ Agreed with all of that David. Where are those people?

I saw Jennifer Jason Leigh in a small part in Greenberg this year. (Had to review the DVD, unfortunately)

Me too. What exactly did people like about it?

Phoebe Cates looks to have retired years ago to have kids with Kevin Kline. That's pretty much been about it

I feel your pain about Greenberg. Ugh. Ugh again.

As for Phoebe Cates, I guess she kind of peaked after Lace, right? I mean, where do you go from there?

For male actors...Jeremy Irons? I can't remember the last film he was in...he used to be in a lot of stuff and I really enjoyed his acting, but I haven't heard from him for a while. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Michael Keaton kind of fell of the map for me too.

You're right about both of those guys. Not much in the last few years.

I see Keaton popped up in The Other Guys. Sounds like the "crusty but benign boss role"...

The last time I heard anything from Jeremy Irons was when I was doing the self tour of Westminster Abbey. I felt honored that he would take the time to guide me through. Even if he did kind of pre-record it...

Keaton is hilarious as the voice of Ken in Toy Story 3.